1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly for securing and sealing a dispenser, such as a pump, a valve or other dispensing means with respect to a flanged container. More particularly, the present invention relates to an assembly for securing a dispenser to a container without the necessity of complex mechanical operation.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed under .sctn..sctn.1.97 to 1.99
It is desirable to secure a dispenser such as a pump, a valve, or other dispensing means to a container for storing and dispensing a liquid product.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,553, issued Sept. 27, 1988, to Van Brocklin, has, as it states, for an object to provide an assembly and a method for securing and sealing a dispenser with respect to the flange of a container in a simplified fashion which requires relatively unsophisticated equipment for assembly. That patent is quoted liberally herein. In accordance with one aspect of the Van Brocklin invention, it includes a sealing collar of a deformable material, preferably a resilient deformable material. The collar has a ring including a floor and a depending ring. The ring and rim are in contact with the upper surface and sidewall of the flange in the assembled position. The collar includes a protrusion preferably in the form of fingers depending from about the rim, and having a diameter of a size to receive the sidewall of the flange, and also able to be encased by the sleeve. The protrusion includes lower end portions on the fingers protruding outward in the path of movement of a mounting sleeve (called a "mounting cup" by Van Brocklin) as the unit is assembled. When the sealing collar and sleeve are assembled, the sleeve forces the protrusion inwardly to a position beneath the flange of the container thereby securing the collar to the flange. A frictionally held cap fits over the sleeve to complete the assembly.
With respect to the present invention, one of the drawbacks of earlier structures is that the plastic collar would, after a period of time, tend to "creep", that is, elongate and reduce somewhat in diameter, relieving outward pressure against the sleeve. As a consequence, occasionally and disastrously, as the user has tried to pull the cap upward off the sleeve, the sleeve has itself been pulled up off the collar. This, of course, has undermined the security of the collar itself on the flange of the container.
The Van Brocklin patent proposes several variations in structure to meet this problem.